India and Australia are currently facing each other in the second ODI of the three-match series at the Adelaide Oval. Having suffered a heavy seven-wicket defeat in Perth, the visitors desperately need a win to level the series before the final game in Sydney.

For the must-win fixture, however, the Indian team management retained the playing XI that featured in the series opener.

The Men in Blue went with three fast bowlers (Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh) and three all-rounders (Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy) as wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav was made to warm the bench once again.  

Kuldeep’s absence from the playing XI for the second ODI was questioned by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on social media. However, in doing so, Tharoor made a goof-up as he seems to have mistaken Australia’s rookie pacer Xavier Bartlett for former left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty.

While criticizing Kuldeep’s snub, Tharoor used Bartlett's example, who took the prized scalps of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in a single over.

Taking to X, Tharoor wrote: "So Xavier Bartlett took just four balls to show the Indian selectors the idiocy of their decision to leave out the most potent match-winner in their squad, @imkuldeep18, in favour of a journeyman pacer like Rana. It was wrong to omit Kuldeep in England & it is absurd not to pick him in Adelaide. Awful!"

Shashi Tharoor may have mistaken Bartlett for Doherty, but he has a point to make, especially considering the rich vein of form Kuldeep Yadav has been in lately.

Kuldeep made the batters dance to his tunes during India’s Asia Cup triumph last month, finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps, at an average of 9.29. Subsequently, he claimed 12 wickets in a couple of home Test matches against the West Indies, including the match-winning five-wicket haul in Delhi.